Changes of growth-climate relationships of Smith fir forests along an altitudinal gradient

• Published in: Journal of forestry research Vol. 35; no. 1; p. 76
• Main Authors: Zheng, Jiacheng, Yang, Jing, Jia, Hengfeng, Lyu, Lixin, Langzhen, Jiayang, Zhang, Qi-Bin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Nature Singapore 01.12.2024; Springer Nature B.V; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,People's Republic of China; Linzhou Bureau of Meteorology,Linzhou,Lhasa 851611,Tibet,People's Republic of China%State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change,Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100093,People's Republic of China; Institute of Plateau Ecology,Tibet Agricultural and Animal Husbandry University,Linzhi 860000,Tibet,People's Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,People's Republic of China%State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change,Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100093,People's Republic of China%State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change,Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100093,People's Republic of China; State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change,Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100093,People's Republic of China
• Subjects: Abies forrestii var. georgei; altitude; Biomedical and Life Sciences; China; climate; Climate change; Community structure; Drought; Evapotranspiration; Forest communities; forest dynamics; Forest ecosystems; Forestry; Forests; Life Sciences; Original Paper; shrubs; Species richness; surveys; temperature; tree growth; trees; Vegetation; Vegetation surveys; water stress; China; Tree rings; Community structure; Climate change; Altitudinal gradient; Plant diversity
• ISSN: 1007-662X; 1993-0607
• DOI: 10.1007/s11676-024-01731-9

Temporal changes in the relationship between tree growth and climate have been observed in numerous forests across the world. The patterns and the possible regulators (e.g., forest community structure) of such changes are, however, not well understood. A vegetation survey and analyses of growth-climate relationships for Abies georgei var. Smithii (Smith fir) forests were carried along an altitudinal gradient from 3600 to 4200 m on Meili Snow Mountain, southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The results showed that the associations between growth and temperature have declined since the 1970s over the whole transect, while response to standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration indices (SPEI) strengthened in the mid- and lower-transect. Comparison between growth and vegetation data showed that tree growth was more sensitive to drought in stands with higher species richness and greater shrub cover. Drought stress on growth may be increased by heavy competition from shrub and herb layers. These results show the non-stationary nature of tree growth-climate associations and the linkage to forest community structures. Vegetation components should be considered in future modeling and forecasting of forest dynamics in relation to climate changes.